STUDENTS from The University of Somerset have teamed up with Age UK to produce hard-hitting films about the charity’s classes for older people.

In December last year, Ageing Well, a programme managed by Age UK Somerset, contacted the university to ask if any of their media production degree students would be interested in working with them to produce a series of films.

The request was posted on the university’s student sites and Kerrie Sloper, a first year student on the course, jumped at the chance to get involved.

Over the course of a few months, Kerrie and fellow student, Emily Hicks, filmed people taking part in Stay Strong Stay Steady classes at venues across the country including Burnham and Highbridge.

Kerrie has spent more than 200 hours editing the footage into a series of films which will help the charity continue to build awareness of the classes they run in Somerset and explain their importance in maintaining the health and wellbeing of older adults.

Speaking about the project, Kerrie said: “I have met many brilliant people and seen some amazing classes in the process of this project.

“I am thankful I got the opportunity. “

Dianne Ramsay, Ageing Well’s manager, said the films successfully got across the message that their classes were accessible to everyone, even older people who had a history of falls, or were anxious about falling.

The short film about the Stay Strong Stay Steady classes features two of the class attendees, whose lives have been turned round by attending.

The film can be found on the Age UK Somerset website.

Dianne said she is ‘extremely grateful’ to the students for making the project happen and thanked them for dedicating so much of their time to the project.

She said: “They have been absolutely fantastic.”